This posting is for Uncle Danny and Uncle Tony, because they know who has the best looking grass in all of Virginia!  And no, the grass was not “touched up” with Photoshop.

On Saturday, I showed Connor how to keep a lawn looking beautiful.  I explained to him what are weeds (even though there are no in my yard) and I also explained to him that in about 12 years he will be cutting the grass and that he has to cut in diagonally so it will look nice.

Here are a few pics of Daddy educating Connor on Landscaping 101.

This posting is probably not something the kids should read. And yes, I got approval from Victoria to post this.  Remember, this is for us to document our experiences and also to help educate other parents that might be going through similar things.

Over the past 3-4 weeks, Victoria has been experiencing some problems breastfeeding.  She has had two clogged milk ducts (one turned into an infection).  On Monday, we went to the doctor regarding her last clogged milk duct and that is when we found out it had become infected.  We had been doing everything they tell you to do — start on the “bad” breast, warm compresses, hot showers, pump afterwards to drain it.  Nothing seemed to work.  About a day and a half of taking the antibiotic, Victoria was doing much better.

Yesterday (Saturday), I watched Connor all day (Mommy was working on wedding pictures) and fed him 5 times with a bottle of expressed breast milk.  Victoria pumped during this period 4 times, so things “should have been ok”.  Saturday night she noticed the infected breast was once again hard as if the milk duct was clogged again (different location this time).  Hot shower, warm compresses and then pumping — still no improvement.  So, we started to worry again.

By now, it was 11:30pm and “sleepy head” had been sound asleep for 3 hours.  I suggested Victoria take a hot shower and I told her I would wake Connor because the breast pump didn’t seem to relieve the pressure.  So, I woke Mr. Hurricane, told him he had to help Mommy out, and then turned him over to Victoria.  15 minutes later, her breast had gone back to being soft and the “emergency” had been aleviated!

So, Mr. Hurricane is now Mr. Hoover (the vacuum) and Mommy is feeling much better.  We concluded that pumping for an entire day may not be a good idea (for Victoria).  The pump is working, it just does not seem to work on all of the milk ducts all of the time.  We realize that this is probably different for every woman, but we feel our solution is to breastfeed Connor most of the time and then mix in a bottle/pump session for Victoria.

Today Connor and I spent the day together.  Victoria took the day off from breastfeeding (she pumped of course) and Connor and I hung out.  We watched the Lady Monarchs (ODU) lose to Connecticut in women’s basketball.  We also watched the men’s NCAA basketball tournament as well as a little golf.

I also took Connor out with me as I ran some errands.  I try to take Connor with me when I have to run out to the store.  I figure it is good for him to see something other than our family room and it is also a good way to wear him out.  So, on today’s to-do list was a stop at Pet Smart, Home Depot, Farm Fresh, and Babies R Us.  Of course, the only one Connor was remotely interested in was Home Depot, oops I mean Babies R Us.  Come on, aren’t all males born to shop in Home Depot or Lowes?

Last night I decided to break tradition and I did not swaddle Connor when I put him to bed.  Well, as I have mentioned before, Connor is a pretty good sleeper and can get 7-8 hours a night without waking or stirring at all.  Last night (the “unswaddled version”) was not nearly as good.  I put Connor to bed around 9pm and he woke up at 11:30pm crying.  So, Victoria fed him.  He fussed 2 or 3 more times but managed to fall back to sleep on his own.  He woke again around 4am for another feeding.  And then again around 7am.  Hmm, that might rank up there as the worst night yet.

My best guess is that  Connor was probably startled a few times last night.  He is probably less likely to be startled when he is swaddled, thus the extra fussing and wake up calls last night.

So, our game plan is to swaddle during the week (so I can get some sleep before I go to work) and then to “unswaddle” him on Friday and Saturday nights so he can get used to sleeping without his “cocoon” (as Grandpa calls it).

After this experience, I am even more of a believer that swaddling is “baby magic”.

Tonight was a “routine night” for Connor and I.  He is currently swaddled and asleep in his crib.  Hopefully, it will be an uneventful night.

Connor (ok, maybe it was Daddy) wanted to show his enthusiasm for Opening Day by wearing his baseball uniform that Grandpa bought him.

Playball!

Check out the photo gallery for some more of the baseball star!

I finally got the elusive smile on camera during our diaper change this morning.

This is what makes my day!

ENJOY!!!

We took Connor to church for the first time today (Easter Sunday).  I suggested we sit in the back row (normally Victoria likes to sit up front) in case we had to leave if Connor began to fuss.  Well, Connor slept for the first 30 minutes of the service and then he began to squirm and turn red.  I was sitting back, pacifier in hand, waiting for the moment to pull the “trigger” to preempt any crying session…

Then there was a significant sound that came from his little rear-end — it was loud enough that the woman in front of us briefly turned around to see what was going on.  (She has kids of her own and had asked how old Connor was, so I don’t think she was offended.  I just think she knew that was a “code red” bowel movement.)  I did not think much of it, because I have heard those before and sometimes it is just gas.  About 5 minutes later, Connor was ready to be fed so I left just as the choir began to sing.  I figured I could feed him and then change him…

I relocated to a classroom down the hall and was getting ready to feed him.  Mimi came down to check on us and at that time, I picked Connor up out of his car seat and sat him on my lap.  Disclaimer:  if you are eating a meal right now, come back and read this when you are done.  I noticed my hands were a little sticky and wet.  I looked in his carrier and noticed it was soiled in.  I then picked him up to see how bad it was.  His nice little Easter Sunday outfit, that his Great Grandmother from Florida just bought him, had changed from a nice light blue to a yellowish/greenish tint (pants and the back of his shirt).  It was all over the place and better yet, it was on my brand new pair of pants and brand new shirt.  Thanks Connor!

I asked Mimi to go get Victoria so we could head home.  I washed up the best I could.  Victoria soon found us and we headed out of the church.  I held the carrier in front of me so no one would see the lovely green stain on my pants and shirt.

So, to make a long story short…

There are no pictures of Connor in his Easter Sunday attire because of his little Easter Sunday surprise he delivered to Daddy.

Happy Easter!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy, and Connor (a clean Connor now)

Connor got 4 shots on Friday and was not thrilled to have it done.  He gets that from his father because I hated getting shots as a child!

Well, Connor was pretty sore Friday evening and was crying and fussing quite a bit.  The only time we had heard a “pain cry” from Connor in the past was when he had the diaper rash.  So, listening to him cry during the shots as well as later in the evening just broke our hearts.

Friday evening, I held him quite a bit and tried not to move around too much.  Victoria fed him around 4pm and then he was not interested in eating again until 2:30am the next morning.  We gave him some children’s tylenol (Dr.’s recommendation) and that seemed to help a little bit.  I decided to sleep on the couch with Connor and I fed him at 2:30am (when he woke up hungry).  At that point, he seemed to be feeling a little better — still a little tender, but he was not nearly as fussy as he had been.

I took him upstairs to change his diaper, swaddle him, and put him in his crib.  I wasn’t too sure he would want to be put in his crib since he had not been feeling good.  (I think he liked sleeping in Daddy’s arms.)  Well, I knew he was feeling better because I got two smiles out of him while I was changing his diaper!  Believe me, having those two smiles at 2:30am, after he had been in so much pain, was great to see.  I laid him down in the crib and off to sleep he went.

I went golfing with Uncle Danny Saturday morning and Victoria sent me a text message saying, “Connor is feeling better.  He smiled at me.”  Again — another sign he was improving.

Connor and I took two naps (2 hrs each) this afternoon and evening.  He seems to be a little tender still, but has been sleeping most of it off.  Something the doctor said would happen.  Hopefully he will be back to himself tomorrow.

Get well, Connor.

Love,

Daddy & Mommy

Connor has been interacting with Victoria and I much more now and we can get him to smile quite often.  His biggest smiles are usually when he is on the changing table getting ready to have his diaper changed.

Well, Connor was very alert when we went to his 2 month checkup.  Dr. Baust “talked to Connor” today.  The two of them were cooing back and forth.  It is nice to have a doctor that takes interest in his patient and just does not shuffle the patient (and their parents) in and out.

At one point, Dr. Baust picked Connor up and started to talk and smile at Connor.  Then Connor let loose on one of his huge smiles (gums and all showing) and that made Dr. Baust’s day.

His smile is instant joy for anyone to see.  If Connor is awake before I go to work, I try my hardest to get a smile out of him.  What a way to start my day!